Why Black Lives Matter protests were nonviolent, but not calm

A funeral was held Monday for an unarmed man shot dead by Minneapolis police — as authorities announced that a fourth person is being held in connection with a shooting near a “Black Lives Matter” protest following the death. “I’m still hurt,” his sister, Sharice Burns, told the packed church on the city’s north side, The Associated Press reported. “I’m still suffering.MINNEAPOLIS — A steady stream of mourners entered a north Minneapolis church Wednesday to pay their respects to a man whose death in a confrontation with police sparked more than a week of protests.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has until Monday to decide if it will charge four suspects in Monday night’s shooting near the 4th Precinct in north Minneapolis.NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Several people were arrested Wednesday night, as protesters rallied and marched over recent deadly police shootings in Chicago and Minneapolis.

The man on the other end of the line was Allen Lawrence “Lance” Scarsella III, who confessed that just two hours before he had shot five people at a protest outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct station, according to court documents. Members of the church were forced to hold up Clarke’s anguished mother Irma Burns as she sobbed while being escorted from her son’s coffin during the service. Police named the suspects Wednesday: Joseph Martin Backman, 27; Daniel Thomas Macey, 26; Allen Lawrence Scarsella, 23; and Nathan Wayne Gustavsson, 21. “I absolutely know that he was not involved in the shooting,” Backman said. “He’s a really, very curious guy, a poli-sci major. Other family members wore shirts with a photo of Clark that read ‘I Matter,’ while the programs for the tragic event also carried his picture and noted that the 24-year-old ‘liked to swim, fish, listen to music, play basketball, be with family and take trips to Charlotte, North Carolina’.

Outside the church, protesters paused at the request of the family after days of unrest over the shooting, which occurred on November 15 while eyewitnesses claim Clark was already restrained by police and – according to one – even in handcuffs. Within 24 hours, police had arrested a 23-year-old in Bloomington, a nearby city, as well as a 26-year-old and a 21-year-old who turned themselves in to investigators. Witnesses said the gunmen were white supremacists targeting those demonstrating in the aftermath of the death of Jamar Clark – who was shot and killed by a local police officer during a struggle.

Several hundred people filled the cavernous Shiloh Temple, with impassioned speeches from family members and pastors occasionally interrupted by shouts and applause, and a slide show of pictures of Clark as he grew up. Police have arrested four men — ages 27, 26, 23 and 21 — on suspicion of shooting five protesters after some protesters told the men to leave the site Monday night. The Mankato officer told Minneapolis police that Scarsella owns a .45-caliber weapon, matching the size of the eight shells found at the shooting scene.

In a search of Scarsella’s home, police found computer equipment, cellphones, camouflage clothing, an AR-15 rifle, bolt-action rifles, revolvers and ammunition. Bishop Richard Howell praised protesters for pressure that he said helped get a federal civil rights investigation and the names of the officers involved.

Belton said the vigil should end to ‘restore order’ to the community, which he said has endured open gunfire, traffic and service interruptions, smoke from the protesters’ fires and hours of helicopter noise. Protesters have called on city leaders to release video footage captured of the incident, but authorities say it would harm their investigation into the incident, CBS Minnesota reported. Demonstrations have also been held in Chicago in recent days, after Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was hit with murder charges in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in October 2014, CBS Chicago reported. Police haven’t released a possible motive for the shootings of the protesters, but the shootings came after several racially disparaging comments about the protests were posted on social media. Authorities, however, have not confirmed those claims — and it was unclear who had opened fire early Wednesday. “At some point during an altercation that ensued between the officers and the individual, an officer discharged his weapon, striking the individual,” the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

The four men appear to have become acquainted in school and at meetups through “/k/,” a popular weapons-related message board with racist overtones on the website 4chan. Gustavsson, who is white, and Macey, who is Asian, both are students in the gunsmithing and firearms technology program at Pine Technical and Community College. The FBI has announced that it will conduct its own investigation, while the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota and Justice Department prosecutors will review evidence to see whether any civil rights statutes were violated. Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that authorities were still working to determine whether Clark was handcuffed when he died.

Lance is a good boy — my oldest grandson,” she said, adding that she wasn’t aware of allegations that he could be involved in a racial confrontation. Another video emerged as part of a live stream filmed at the protests Friday by the man known as “SaigaMarine,” who was later questioned and released by police. “Oh, my God, he’s gonna die, guys.